Bird fancying

Despite what a certain Kentucky "colonel" might have you
believe, the key to good fried chicken isn't the secret herbs and
spices; it's the simple matter of cooking it on the bone.

In Australia of late, restaurants have begun to fry more chicken
and fry it better. Two of the best examples are near-neighbours in
Sydney's inner west, Mary's (pictured above) and Hartsyard. An
industrial-looking pressure-fryer is one of the secrets of the
former, while the latter serves its version with Lowcountry sausage
gravy and a buttermilk biscuit.

In Melbourne, the Wednesday-night special fry at Rockwell and
Sons has recently clinched the lead, while Korean chain Kyochon
still holds the title for Brisbane's best bird (Naruone and Arisun
are also front-runners in Sydney).

Morgan McGlone, a chef who left Sydney for the charms of the
American south, now heads the kitchen at Husk restaurant in
Nashville, a city considered the mecca of deep-fried birds. His
current approach sees the birds broken down into eight pieces, all
on the bone, and brined in buttermilk and Crystal hot sauce. "I
drain the chicken on a rack for an hour and toss it in a mixture of
flour, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne, celery seed and
pepper." He fries the chicken for 13 minutes in peanut or canola
oil, and likes to serve it with butter-bean succotash, braised
mustards and watermelon. "And," he adds, "no self-respecting
Southerner would ever use a fork to eat fried chicken."

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